Open and Shut
by the-real-jared-kleinman
Summary: He knew what was coming- an explosion close to his face that would leave his ears ringing. But it came at him too fast- his eyes were still open. All-encompassing white filled his vision, like a disease. He blinked, trying to get rid of the white. With every blink, it got a bit darker, but his normal vision didn't return. "I- I can't see!" Villain AU, Bakugou blinds Izuku. TODODEKU
1. Orange Soda

"I'm- I'm sorry, Kacchan! I- I didn't... I didn't mean to! Please don't hurt me for this, it was an accident!" Izuku pleaded, falling over.

"I told you, stop making excuses." Bakugou said, turning around to face Izuku.

He pulled his jacket off, handing the thing to one of his lackeys.

Izuku flinched as he caught sight of his mistake, a large orange-ish stain on the back of Bakugou's jacket.

"Deku!" the other roared, causing Izuku to scurry backwards on his butt, accidentally bumping into another of Bakugou's lackeys. The lackey scoffed, and used his abnormally long fingers to grab a soda from a nearby student.

He poured it onto Izuku, directly onto his hair.

"Now, now, let him be. It's not nice to do this. Hey, Deku, let's go outside, yeah?" Bakugou asked, and Izuku just nodded.

"Oh, Bakugou, are we really gonna do this now? I wanted to finish my lunch..." teased the boy with long fingers, before he, too, followed Bakugou out.

Izuku and Bakugou left the cafeteria, Izuku making no attempt to wipe the soda off his face and out of his hair.

They went around to the back of the school, finding a little niche where Izuku wouldn't have any chance to escape; not like he'd take it, though.

"Deku, hold still a second, okay? It'll hurt worse if you move." Bakugou said, cornering Izuku. He merely nodded, long since scared mute.

Bakugou set his hand on Izuku's shoulder, squeezing as he activated his quirk to set little explosions directly onto it. Izuku flinched a bit, but otherwise stayed still, not crying out even as the smell of burning flesh began to rise up from his shoulder.

"You're getting better, Midoriya." one of Bakugou's lackeys commented. Izuku only grit his teeth, determined not to cry this time.

It took nearly thirty seconds of the constant explosions onto already burnt skin for Bakugou to get bored. He took his hand off, seeming to admire the handprint now burned into Izuku's shoulder through two layers of clothing.

He tilted his head, peering into Izuku's face with a frightening intensity. "It's okay, you can cry. But I'm not done, so you'll have to bear through the pain and try to keep your body from moving, even with the body-wracking sobbing you normally do. I don't know if you can handle that, Deku."

Bakugou put his hand maybe a couple inches away from Izuku's eyes, and let one explosion out.

It didn't even make contact.

But an explosion at that close of range could blind someone, even if they've not been hurt otherwise.

And Izuku's eyes were open wide.

"Ah! Oww!" Izuku cried, rubbing at his eyes.

Bakugou forced Izuku's hand away, taking a look himself. "You're fine. Get over it, Deku. You're not that much of a weakling, and besides, there's more fun to be had yet."

"No, Kacchan, I-I..."

"No? You've never said no before, Deku. I might just have to beat that out of you."

"Kacchan, I... I can't see!" Izuku yelled.

"What?"

"I... can't see anything. Everything's just gone!"


	2. News Stories

"What? You sure?! If you're lying, you useless Deku, then I might have to hurt you worse." Katsuki threatened.

"N-no, I'm serious! I can't see anything. Everything's just... black! I- I swear!" Izuku rubbed at his eyes again, his vision was still as dark as it had been a second ago. His ears were also ringing, but that was normal. His shoulder hurt, but it had already started to numb. Physically, Izuku assumed he was fine. Well, as fine as he was when he ever encountered Katsuki. Mentally, he knew, was not good. He knew he was dissociating, and that's why he didn't feel what he was probably supposed to, but at least he knew how he was going to feel later. Shock, hurt, anger, hate, despair, and also... betrayal? That was a new one. Not surprising, but he supposed he better stop analyzing and start figuring out a way to get away from Katsuki and to a hospital to see if this was permanent.

"Bakugou, I'm out of here. I'm all for tormenting the quirkless freak, but this is... forever! I'm not taking the fall for this, man!" the lackey with long fingers said, running. Or at least he assumed Long-fingers was running, because of the sound and direction of the footfalls. The fat one with wings followed after, his harder footfalls more distinctive. That left Katsuki, who didn't seem to have moved. Time to try and get out of here.

"Uh... uh... Kacchan, I- I..." He fell silent, before whispering, "...can I please go?"

"How the fuck are you going to move, Deku? Let me take you to your mom's place. Rat me out and I'll kill you." Katsuki replied, grabbing his upper arm without warning. Katsuki dragged him wherever it was they were going, and Izuku was helpless to try and stop him. The two of them walked like that for awhile, and Izuku didn't hear any other footsteps but their own. "Stairs." Katsuki warned after awhile, and Izuku just barely lifted his feet in time. They walked up ten steps, then abruptly stopped, and Izuku heard the familiar sound of his doorbell.

He whispered to Katsuki, "Our story is you were practicing your flashbang for your Quirk and I got too close to the explosion. Accident, not your fault. And relax your hold on my arm, Jesus." Katsuki merely grunted, but loosened his hold on Izuku's arm to a force one might consider friendly.

The door opened, and Izuku instinctively turned to the door. He turned back to the general approximation of Katsuki's face. "Thanks again for taking me home, Kacchan. It's really not your fault." He turned back to the doorway. "Mom, I was helping Kacchan with his Quirk, but got too close to an explosion. It's not Kacchan's fault, but he insisted he take me home, because I kinda... can't see? Don't worry, I'm not in pain anywhere."

She immediately enveloped him in a hug, and he stiffened before relaxing. "Really, mom, I'm fine. We should probably see a doctor to check if it's permanent, though."

He kicked his foot a bit backwards, and Katsuki seemed to have gotten the message, because he suddenly cleared his throat. "I'm sorry again, Izuku. I really didn't mean for any of this. Sorry."

His mom released him, and he turned around to face him (?) again. "Really, Kacchan. No need to apologize. It's my fault for getting too close to the flashbang shot. Don't blame yourself." He tapped his mom's shoulder. "Mom, I don't need to see to know you're using your Mom Glare. Can you please take me inside? Kacchan needs to head back to school so he doesn't miss it. Unless we spent more time walking than just one class."

"Oh, of course, sweetie. Thank you for taking Izuku back, Katsuki. Tell your mother I can't wait for Thursday, and please pay attention in the rest of your classes. Goodbye!" She shut the door once she had guided Izuku inside, and then moved him over to the couch. "Would you like some katsudon, Izuku? I'll call and schedule the appointment for tomorrow, and we'll see what happens from there."

"Katsudon sounds great, Mom. And really, don't be mad at Kacchan, he really didn't mean to hurt me at all." Izuku said as he sat.

"I know dear, it's just... when someone hurts what's precious to you, even if it's accidental, you can't help but dislike them a bit." his mom explained as she moved to the kitchen. "Once I've got everything sorted, I'll grab you a T-shirt and shorts so you can change out of your uniform."

"Sounds fantastic." Izuku replied as he sank into the couch, letting himself relax for the first time since he had run into Bakugou during lunch. No... since before he had left that morning.

For the first time, Izuku realized just how tense he was whenever he left the house. It seemed that whenever he went to school, he came back with a bruise, cut, or burn. It's like he was... being abused.

Normally, when thoughts like that crossed his mind, he would just dismiss them and think about something else, like any new obscure facts he'd learned about a hero or theories on All Might. Now, he realized that his relationship with Katsuki, and his dismissal of the issue, were both very much signs of an abusive relationship. The threatening, the hiding of injuries, everything. He was in an abusive relationship, and he was doing absolutely nothing about it. He could tell his mom, but what would she do? Take it to the police, who probably wouldn't arrest Katsuki, because they were both only thirteen. Well, Katsuki was fourteen come a month from now, but he's still a minor. Izuku didn't even know if police _arrested_ people that young. He could run away, but where would he go? And he still has his mom, she'd be worried sick. They could move, maybe, but Izuku knew that his mom didn't have the money. Could Izuku even hold out another two years, wait until Katsuki went to hero school?

Wait, Katsuki go to hero school? When he blinded a peer, abused him for, what, seven, eight years? He scoffed, amused and disgusted at the idea. He knew Katsuki would get accepted, he was smart and his Quirk was both versatile and flashy. And looking into his past, they'd probably find it squeaky clean considering the teachers at his shit school never reported anything and practically doted on Katsuki regardless.

Had it really never occurred to him how much he despised Katsuki? -No, not Katsuki... the society that created Katsuki. The society that told Katsuki that his Quirk was special and better that everyone else, that told him that _he_ was better. The one that made him believe that being Quirkless meant being useless. The one that turned Katsuki against him, and thus him against the society that made him.

He wondered if there was a way for him to change that from the inside.

He immediately rejected that idea, he couldn't do that without a Quirk. Nobody would take him seriously.

What about... from outside?

No. Nope. He might want to change society, but not by breaking the law. No way.

"Izuku, honey, I have your clothes. You can change into the bathroom, okay?" his mother said, startling him out of his thoughts.

"Oh, right. Thanks!" He said, holding out his hand. She placed the clothes into them, and led him to the bathroom. "Okay, mom, I think I can take it from here." He found the door and shut it, his hands locking the door from muscle memory. He pulled Katsuki's coat off of him (when did Katsuki put that on him?) and then carefully worked off his own coat, wincing when the singed fibers rubbed against his burned skin. Once it was off he dropped it on the floor, then quickly unbuttoned his shirt and shucked it too. He pulled off his undershirt, then dropped down to his hands and knees.

Using touch, he found the ribbed bottle of burn lotion and a roll of gauze, standing back up and setting both on the counter (after two tries, he wasn't able to see) He ran his thumb over the raised lettering, and felt the familiar kanji for 'burn cream'. He uncapped the bottle, pouring a small amount into his hand before slathering it onto his shoulder. He already knew from experience that it seemed to hurt the same whether it was fast or slow, so it was better to get the pain over with. Once he was sure the whole burn was covered, he grabbed the gauze, already wincing at how clumsy the wrappings were going to be since he couldn't see.

He started by his shoulder, wrapping over and over until the burn was covered, as well as part of his chest. He fumbled along the counter until he found the clothing his mom had given him, and he grabbed the shirt off the top of the pile and slipped it over his head, glad that he didn't own any sleeveless tees or muscle shirts. Not like he had much muscle to accentuate. He quickly pulled off his uniform pants, pulling on the basketball shorts in exchange.

He placed his hand on his shoulder, making sure the fabric completely masked the bandages.

Satisfied, he grabbed the clothes off the floor and opened the bathroom door, making his way to his room. Once he had grasped the door handle he turned it open. He made his way to his bed, stuffing his shirt, undershirt, and coat underneath the bed. He grabbed a dirty spare of each from a section of his closet by touch, and brought them and the pants to his dirty clothes pile. He then made his way out of the bedroom, and using the wall as a guide, he made his way back to the living room, where he was met by his mom.

"Oh, Izuku. Dinner's ready." she said, grasping his elbow gently and taking him to the table, where he could smell katsudon. She sat him down, and he heard her pull out a chair to his left. He fumbled for a second, but found his utensils and began to eat.

After a couple bites, he put the utensil down. "Mom, I'm not made of glass. I'm fine. Eat."

She gave a nervous laugh, and the dinner continued in silence.

Once he finished, he pushed himself away from the table, and made his way over to the living room. He was now glad he'd memorized the floor plans.

When he heard his mom get up behind him, he turned back around, and repeated, "Mom, not made of glass. I remember how to get to the living room from the dining room."

He sat down on the couch, and his mom joined him a minute later. They sat in silence for a second, then Izuku chuckled. "This is ridiculous. We're acting like total strangers, and you're so quiet. I know it's probably devastating, Mom, for your kid to be suddenly blind and unable to see little things, but I can still hear, and taste, and touch. I'm still me." Another second passed. "Did you book the appointment?"

"Yeah, I did." she replied. "It's for 11:30 tomorrow."

"Would you turn on the TV? I might not be able to see it, but hearing the news is nearly the same."

"Right."

The TV switched on, and the news started playing: "-roki Shouto, son of number two Pro Hero has gone missing. His father is offering a ten million yen reward to anyone who comes forward with information regarding his whereabouts."

"What's he look like? The kid, Todoroki Shouto?" Izuku asked.

"His left eye is blue, and has a bad burn scar over it. The left side of his hair is red, and the right is white. His right eye is grey." his mom described.

"Thanks."

His attention returned to the broadcast. "-derground hero Erasure Head collared known villain Muscular, but as usual, declined to comment. The villain in question was responsible for the noble deaths of the pro duo Water Hose three months ago, who died in the line of duty whilst rescuing civilians. In other news, a series of serial murders involving pro heroes has the police wondering if there's a hero killer on the loose. Authorities say-"

"Hey, Mom, I'm kind of tired. I'm going to go to bed." Izuku said, stifling a fake yawn.

"Alright, sweetie. I'll let you sleep in tomorrow, and we'll go to your doctor's appointment."

"Sounds like a plan. Love you."

"Love you too, sweetie."

He shuffled to his bedroom, grabbing his phone out on the way. He unlocked it with a fingerprint, and voice activated his favorite playlist. He closed the door just as the first few notes of Killer In the Mirror began to play. He locked the door, and plopped down on the bed. Getting comfortable, he lay awake for a few minutes, just losing himself in his thoughts, before falling into a dreamless sleep.


End file.
